A nation judged by Holy God

If God were to judge a nation, what would it look like? Perhaps it would resemble the disaster He brought upon Sodom and Gomorrah. Perhaps he could bring torrential floods and other “natural” disasters, or He could just allow an invading army to overtake it as in the case of the Babylonians overrunning Israel. Actually, He could use a whole host of weapons against such a nation, but He does not need to do any of these things.

Sometimes, He allows a people to destroy themselves just by giving them up! Three times in Romans 1 we read that “God gave them up” to uncleanness, vile passions and a depraved mind. These are very strong terms, and in our culture would be considered “hate speech” by some because the context of the depravity is homosexual behavior. The descriptions given come through the Apostle Paul by inspiration of the Holy Spirit.

The passage constitutes a warning from a loving God who calls people to come to Him in repentance. The passage begins in verse 18, “For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who suppress the truth in unrighteousness.” Our culture seems to have lost the doctrine of the wrath of God, preferring to concentrate on God’s love. Actually, both are true and flow out of His holiness, which is His central attribute.

To hold to an “anything goes” posture is to suppress God’s truth. Isaiah 5:20 warns, “Woe to those who call evil good, and good evil; who put darkness for light, and light for darkness; who put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter.” (NKJV) It is no wonder that so many have been caught up in this behavior since our society has been putting its stamp of approval on it and is even going so far as to redefine marriage!

As one continues to read Romans, he finds that God also denounces the “holier than thou” attitude by pointing out that “all have sinned and come short of the glory of God.” What God demands is that each one of us looks at himself in the light of God’s holiness. When we do, we can only cry out as Isaiah did, “Woe is me! I am undone! I am a man of unclean lips … ” God does not call us to be judgmental, but He does call us to live out and proclaim His truth knowing that all of us deserve God’s wrath.

Last week, we celebrated the two greatest moments in human history, the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus the Messiah. He took our God’s wrath upon Himself at the cross to pay for our sin and offer to us God’s forgiveness if we would accept it in unconditional surrender to the Holy God. The resurrection demonstrated the complete fulfillment of the debt we owed. His grace is free to all who will accept it. Then we should follow the command Jesus gave to the woman taken in adultery, “Go and sin no more.”